Blogging – a life-changer? That sounds like a rather strong verdict. Can something that happens in virtuality have an impact on *life*, i.e. reality? For me it has. Coming back to yesterday’s post on my favourite aspect of blogging, the inspiration that blogging has proven to be for me, has left a visible mark on my life.
I have always been a creative person. As a little girl I crocheted dresses for my dolls and devised “musicals” for my array of Playmobil figurines, I wrote poetry as a teenager and compiled scrapbooks full of collages. I started photographing when I was a student and loved crafting of any kind. When I later started my degree in photography, I thought I was in it for art photography – only to become thoroughly frustrated with my lofty idea of “art” and the high standards I had set for myself. I settled for documentary and commercial photography, convinced there was no artistic originality in me, only solid craftsmanship. Apart from dabbling in the occasional craft project, creativity was confined to deciding which f-stop to set. I reproduced rather than produced.
The unblocking of my creative block may have been an act of reproduction, too – after all it was Mr Guylty’s portable shrine that laid the foundations for my sudden creative explosion. But the initial impulse for what I perceive as the life-changing impact of blogging, was the feedback I received when I presented my little creative treasure chests. In that sense, blogging has been life-changing for me. Because it reignited a creative urge that had been buried. I am currently more creative (long-term) than I have ever been, with a constant output of creative projects. I seem to have found my own personal way of expressing myself creatively. This still does not comply with my Kunstbegriff – idea of art, but it satisfies my need for creative expression. It makes me happy, even when times are sad. And that is life-affirming, if not life-changing. Ok, I admit I am a drama queen, a bit too excitable and rather passionate about almost anything. I may be prone to overstating things. But hey, it doesn’t hurt anyone, and I certainly feel my life has changed for the better. And that is the best possible influence anything could ever have.
Has the world moved because *you* started blogging? And is commenting a life-changing experience for you, readers? Let me know, I am curious! ❤
Guylty Pleasure 
Liebe Drama-Queen 😉 ,
jeder Blogbeitrag – bei dir oder anderen -, der mich zum Lachen, Nachdenken, Schmunzeln, Sabbern oder sonst was bringt, *HAT* bereits einen Einfluss auf mich und mein Leben. Er macht mein Leben für ein paar Minuten schöner oder lustiger oder schubst mein Denken in Richtung, in die es sonst nicht gegangen wäre.
Hätte ich jemals ein Gedicht über ein Nilpferd, seinen Rosengarten und ein freches kleines Unkraut geschrieben, wenn der Impuls nicht von Herba und dem Pösche gekommen wäre? Hätte ich mich einer majestätischen Nase in Reimform genähert?
Ich bedanke mich für die Anregungen, die meine Kreativität gekitzelt haben. ❤
Und wenn ich mit meinen Werken jemanden unterhalten kann, dann gibt mir das auch was – es freut mich nämlich einfach, wenn ich jemandem auch ein paar schöne und lustige Minuten geschenkt habe. 🙂
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How interesting that there is a German word for “idea of art.” I don’t think my Kunstbegriff is very lofty, especially not in distinguishing between art and craft. At least, I think the former is very rare without the latter 🙂
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I was very creative when I was young as well, always coloring or making 3-D type projects out of paper and glue. I went through a phase where I just wanted to paint everything, like ceramics and furniture. when I was a teenager I decided to repaint my childhood dollhouse and being the geek I am I stayed true to it’s Victorian roots, researching what the color schemes should be, etc. when my kids were young I was very much into scrap-booking photos and cross-stitch type embroidery but all of that fizzled out for me after awhile. so by the time my blog came around, I was very much in need of a creative outlet. I’ve found it very fun and enjoyable. it’s not something I can hang on the wall or sit on the mantle-piece for others to admire but I think that’s part of it’s appeal–it’s for me 🙂
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Having had the oof experience, finding out there were (seemingly) normal women writing about it, and then commenting about what I read – All that happened in a nanosecond. Having no patience to be a lurker, I was compelled to contribute my two cents on the topic at hand. Changes in life: met wonderful people I never would have met, traveled a long way to meet friends and attend a play (totally worth it), found a “happy place” that was open 24/7, became more knowledgeable about popular culture, haunted craft stores looking for a few goodies for shrines and much more. I think following RA and his fans ( I am a fan of most of his fans) is like an injection of botox for your imagination. The enthusiasm and joy it brings takes the wrinkles out of our brains.
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“Botox for the imagination” – that is a fabulous term. And so apt. That’s how I see it too, and I am glad for the variety of view points and creative expression we have in the fandom.
Oh, and I second every other point you make in your comment – the way blogging has crossed-over into RL has been really enriching, finding new friends, expanding the horizon, engaging in new hobbies.
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It’s interesting — I have spent a lot of time this year too wondering if the thing I’m really good at is something I’d rather not spend my time on, i.e., if I’m a craftsman and not an artist, so to speak. It’s really hard to let go of those perfectionist standards. I’m glad that the shrine project got your juices flowing … or was it that the flowing juices got the shrine project going? Hugs.
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I suppose the different between art and craft is that the former has a creative vision, or has original ideas whereas the latter is more focussed on the execution of an idea? I don’t really know, tbh. I thought for a long time that I do not have original ideas. That I am only re-fashioning other people’s original ideas without bringing something unique to the table myself. It may be a matter of finding the *one* thing that makes one an original thinker… Could be, that the shrines are mine, idk. And yes, there is confusion over which came first – the egg or the chicken… 🙂
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i love the fact the people have been inspired creatively by blogging and i think we get as much or even more fun out of your creativity as you do 😀 so hoping the circle continues revolving with the same positive outcomes 🙂
It’s funny, i’ve always loved art, grew up with it, surrounded by it, immersed in it. Participated in it but never really felt driven by it to be doing it. I enjoyed being part of artistic projects but never felt any need to be the focus or originator. I guess i always knew i’d never be any good at it 🙂
I wonder if it is blogging that changed things, i guess in helping communication along in being the thread , the environment that connects but i still think i owe a lot of my friends to opera/classica music and now to Richard. Blogging was the platform but i think the other 2 factors were the true originators.
As to writing it is interesting, as well what blogging is to me, feels unfair to ponder on it here 🙂 I’d say it helps me complete myself but i am happiest in an enabler than in a creative role; i don’t think i strive or have anything in me that wants originality. But i’ve always seen the RL side of art and artists and that backstage level is what has always fascinated me. Its is making things work, as smoothly as possible, as well as possible, as simple and clever as possible that satisfies me and it is what allows others to be creative 🙂
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I love the point you are making here, Hari. Especially because I have such a ridiculously lofty Kunstbegriff myself, seeing it as something “holy”, transcendent, otherworldly even. Which is BS, of course, my mind tells me that. And I have long come to terms with the fact that there is not only redemption in other forms of creative expression that do not result in Turner Prize awards, Oscar statuettes or Nobel millions, but that they are equally needed as the more lofty forms of art that others produce.
And I have always believed that art would not be possible without the supporters, from the muse to the strong woman in the background, to the prop maker, the patron of the arts, the canvas maker, the brush seller, the financier, the buyer all the way to the appreciater of art. The whole thing would not work without the participation of others. The artist can’t work efficiently without an audience or a critic or a financier. I am glad that there are people around who look after the RL side of things, as you call it. Without them, a lot of art would not happen, and what a shame that would be.
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mhm, and i guess everyone can find their place 🙂 Or hopefully can find their place and feel fulfilled with what they can do, it all matters 🙂
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